inFAMOUS Second Coming
by Nnarect
Summary: Cole MacGrath awakens to find the world is not quite as he hoped it would be. Now, stronger than ever, he must strive to save all conduits, with the help of a few friends in Seattle of course. Post Second Son good end.
1. Elevators in purgatory

"Wake up, Cole."

I felt like I had been awoken from a long sleep, not knowing where I was or even who I was. Pain was all I remembered, a flash and the pain of thousands weighing on my shoulders. The essence of thousands of people all over the world, being torn out of them as forcefully as one would tear off an arm. God, did I do that?

"Wake up, Cole." My thoughts were interrupted when the voice spoke again, this time louder, with more force. It seemed close, and yet far off at the same time, like a yelling in my ear, and yet a great distant echo, laying over itself again and again. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was driving me mad, so I forced it to the back of my mind and focused. With great strength I forced open my eyes as best I could. I was lying down on my stomach, my head laying on its left side so that I looked to my right, outward at an endless world of never ending white. It seemed to have no floor and no ceiling, no walls, no boundaries, and nothing at all. Even though it appeared to have no floor, somehow one existed and I was laying on it. My head was spinning trying to understand this place. The sound, the weird echo in here, the invisible floor. I felt like I was gonna hurl. I slammed my eyes shut and fought against the pain, raising my right hand to rub my head for a minute. Pulling myself together, I decided it perhaps wasn't such a good idea to look down. Opening my eyes, I stood up, resisting the pain which fought to keep me down and making sure not to look down at all. All it took was one look at the man standing before me for everything to come back. The blast, Zeke, the reapers, Sasha, Alden, Trish, John, New Marais, Kuo, Nix, Wolfe, the cores, the RFI, all of it. The man who caused it all, the one who created so much pain, the man I had hoped to never see again was there. Kessler. Every emotion I had ever felt came flooding back into me, with rage at its forefront. Every atom of my body was prepared to leap out and rip him to shreds, to make him feel what he did to Trish and I a million times over, yet something held me back. I was reminded of what it was for, what he had trained me for and warned me of. Still, rage boiled at the surface and I itched to wrap my hands around his neck. Sure, I understood he did what he had to do, but that didn't make it any easier to see him again.

"Good, you remember", Kessler said, noticing the look in my eyes, "but before you do anything rash, allow me to explain our current... predicament." I relaxed a bit visibly but on the inside I was perfectly ready to fight. I noticed a familiar weight was missing from my back. A quick glance over my shoulder told me the amp was gone, along with my pack, from its proper place on my back.

"As you could probably guess already, we are dead." He told me. I Let out a slight choking laugh, thinking it was some form of joke, until I noticed he was still perfectly serious. Straightening up, I said my first words in seven years.

"If we're dead, how are we talking." I inquired. It was a genuine question, yet I couldn't help but feel it was a silly one.

"This place is a mystery to me, Cole. I cannot leave it, and I cannot manipulate it either, I'm lucky I can still interact with the real world in any way. I suspect I will be bound here until something happens. When and how that will happen, I have no clue." He explained.

"That still doesn't answer my question." I grunted.

"I wasn't finished. Now shut up, we haven't much time and I hate to be interrupted. How we are talking is simple, in the moment of your death I took your soul and forced it to lay dormant until I awakened it. You see, in my final moments, we each saw a different vision. You saw the beast, but I saw you, returning to the world of the living. From that moment on, I was waiting for you so that I could fulfill this purpose." He told. I merely nodded my head as I tried comprehending what he had said to me.

"I have enough power left for you to come back to life with all your power intact. You are needed down there, I can feel it. When you fired off the RFI, you didn't kill all the conduits as it was suspected you had, just the ones near by. Well, relatively speaking. Conduits in the world now are called Bio-terrorists and are hunted down by a militarized force of conduits with the same power, much like the ice men you fought in New Marais, called the Department of Unified Protection, or DUP for short. They are bound in a special way so that they can't use their powers and are sent to be put behind bars in a special prison called Curdan Cay station. The leader of this group was a conduit woman named Brooke Augustine, who has control over concrete. Her power is shared throughout all DUP soldiers. I say she _**was**_ the leader because she was taken down six months ago by a group of three prime conduits in Seattle, who defeated her and exposed her corruption and treason to everyone. Their names are Delsin Rowe, Abigail "Fetch" Walker, and Eugene Simmons. Fetch has power over neon, Eugene had power over video, and Delsin could absorb people's powers by touching them. Recently she escaped prison and is once again at large. Oddly enough, the government is not hunting her, despite having formally arrested her and held her in prison." He explained.

"So you want me to go down there and put her back in prison? Seems like a waste of both of our powers." I said.

"Of sorts, but I fear that may not be the only thing you are required to do. The world is changing, and I don't know if it's entirely for the better. All I know is that if something bad were to happen, it would be best for you to already be alive and ready to fight. Besides, think of this as a bit of an apology for all the harm I've done you." A sullen and forlorn look grew on his face momentarily before it switched back to its normal stern expression.

"Now, I have given you every power you could have once had. You will keep your and Kuo's powers but will also gain Nix's and those you lost in Empire City. I have tried to seal their whole power within you, however that is tied directly to them, so all I could do was amplify them so that you could perform the moves you could previously only perform through the combination of your powers. You have also received a special power, one I cannot give or take away. You see, when you detonated the RFI, it sealed its energy in you, meaning you can use its power whenever you need to." He told me.

"So what you're telling me is, I'm a ticking time bomb and if I'm not too careful there'll be another RFI blast, or I could trigger one at will?" I asked, the anger building within me again.

"That is one of your powers, but as far as I can tell, you have two other powers, with the possibility of others. You can also fire a single shot that temporarily takes away a conduits power and a lasting laser beam that will knock a conduit out for about six hours and, if exposed long enough, will kill them. And don't worry, this power is easier to control than any you've felt before, and much more stable too, so there won't be any accidental RFI blast at any point in the future. Once you reach Seattle, I would recommend that you be wary of Delsin Rowe. He is greedy for power. Not so much that he would go out of his way to get it, but he will still try to get your powers the second he learns you are a conduit. If he manages to grab your hand, he will start absorbing power uncontrollably. You cannot break out of this hold unless you fire your RFI shot into his hands. If you don't, he will absorb your, Nix, and Kuo's powers." He told me.

"I see, thanks for the advice, but couldn't you just show me this through a vision like you showed me the beast?" I asked him.

"No, you see much of the power I had in my physical form is gone here. I am a spirit now, and it is of no use to me. Besides, I have other powers that suit me better now. I do wish you well on your journey Cole. You may step into the elevator when you are ready." I heard the words he had spoken, yet it took me a moment before I fully comprehended his statement. I felt my eyebrows furrow together and my eyes squint in a distrusting way out of instinct. Glancing around, I felt as though he was mocking me.

"What elevat- oh, that elevator." I murmured to myself as I turned around and saw the opened elevator door and the classic elevator interior style I had grown so accustomed to in Empire, complete with cheesy elevator music and everything. Walking toward it I heard call me once more.

"Oh, and Cole", turning around, I noticed a mischievous and yet almost... happy look about him, "I've prepared a surprise for you." Turning around and heading into the elevator I couldn't help but wonder what on earth he could surprise me with.

Well, there's no telling what that could be. Any number of things most likely. Oh well, just add it to my new list of things to worry about. Inside, the elevator contained a small wooden railing, a plaster depiction of the Empire city skyline at the bottom, and various art woven out of fabric running from the railing to the top of the elevator, where it met the metal ceilings. On my right, a set of four buttons which had abbreviated letter names next to it, consisting from top to bottom of HV, P, M, and HL with "P" being lit up. I could tell what they meant. Trusting my instinct, I pressed the "M" button and felt the elevator lurch to life. I glanced up once again and locked eyes with the man I knew as Kessler, his long coat and hood giving him an eerie yet cool vibe. The doors began to close, and just as they were about to obscure his figure from my view, he winked at me. Not any over the top wink or any sort of wink between friends, it was a knowing wink, encouraging me, yet it was as nonchalant as if he were simply out on a stroll and saw me. And then he was gone. The never ending white world of echoes was gone. It felt final, like he would never see it again, and in a way he felt sad, yet in a way he also felt glad to be getting away from it. That place made his skin crawl and his head swirl. Then he was in free fall. He felt his heart beat abruptly, something he hadn't noticed was missing in the room before. He felt adrenaline spike through him, his blood felt electric. He felt as though he had all the power in the world, like he could do anything. It's call was seductive, but Cole knew what he needed to do, and he ignored the voice telling him to accept it. Then all at once, it exploded.


	2. I'm back

~Zeke's Point of view~

I had been spying on the DUP for about five and a half years now. Sure it was tough work, but it payed off in the long run. My best friend taught me a long time ago that you should always be willing to help the greater good, even if it meant sacrificing your own well being. I was going to see that friend today. Every year I took two leaves from the DUP to visit him. One was on the day he died. The other was today. After taking him out to sea to say goodbye to him, I brought him back to the smoking crater that was Empire city. The crater that marked the spheres detonation was still there, untouched by the beast's explosion due to some sort of radiation bullshit. I had buried him on the spot of concrete that showed where he was standing. It was tough considering it was once a road but it felt right to put him back at the beginning. I had set a plaque into the side of it, like a headstone. On top I had drilled the amp into the ground. The monument for him in New Marais had a fake amp, one that I had made in a matter of hours for it. The salty breeze blew through my hair and arms as the chopper, which had the open side doors at the military uses, you know the ones, flew low over the sea. The sun glinted off the ocean and we blew past the gulls who called this place their home. As peaceful as it was today, an ignorant man never would have guessed we were flying to one of the blackest and bloodiest spots on American soil. The riots from when the beast detonated had ripped the city to shreds, and had left people's sanity and order dangling from a very thin thread. It's a shame that the DUP had to be the ones to restore order though. Finally, the the sea gave way the three large islands. Directing the pilot to a large crater with a small upwards bit in the center, I had him put down the chopper near the edge of the crater and instructed the pilot to come back in two hours, after I had had time to walk around the ruin that was Empire. Th e chopper flew off and I watched it fly until it disappeared into the horizon. Looking now before me, I noticed the ground was still soot black from the radiation fire just after the blast, with a single pathway running through the middle of the crater, and at its end I could see the glint coming off the metal handle of the powerhouse weapon he had designed specifically for Cole, to channel his electric energy into. I walked the path through the crater slowly, and tried to imagine what this place would have looked like as Cole had seen it that fateful day 7 years ago, when he had woken up with electric powers at the point he was heading to now. I imagined the whole place on fire, buildings collapsed and falling down, panic and disorder. (Little did he know, his vision was mostly accurate.) As I climbed back up the slope to the top of the spot he was laid I felt tears rolling down my face. I sat down on top of it and placed the bundle of flowers and a beer in front of the amp.

"Happy birthday, brother." I said as my voice cracked with sadness. He had done the right thing. I told myself that everyday but I couldn't help but feel sad that he had left me here. That I was always left out. Always without powers, and in the end they left me behind here instead of taking me with them. I shed tears as I thought about everything that had happened, how seven years ago, this would have been crazy talk. I stayed a minute longer before cleaning myself up and standing so as to depart the crater. I slid down the slope of the central area and began walking away, the last few tears squeezing their way out as I sniffled, when I felt a familiar crackle in the air. My hair started to stand on end, my skin felt tingly, I heard a thundering above my head. Electricity, I'd never forget the feeling. I jerked my head around as quick as I could, just in time to see five lightning bolts strike the amp. I was far enough away that it didn't even come close to hurting me, but it still shocked my whole body and left me feeling jittery, which was by no means comfortable. After the fifth strike, the amp miraculously was still intact, without a scratch on it, but it was glowing white hot to the point that I felt it might melt the stone around it and sink into the earth. The white hot weapon in front of me was glowing, and not like some silly little candle, I'm talking rivaling the sun, hell it was so bright it blinded me for a sec. Then, the heavens deposited one final lightning strike right onto the blazing amp. I heard something explode as I was hit in the gut with a huge rock, which landed me right on my ass, but luckily the solid stone did little more than knock the wind out of me and fly over my head as if it hadn't even hit me. I remained on the ground for a sec and assessed that I luckily didn't have any broken ribs. I sat up, helping myself with my arm. My vision was blurry and I felt a bit light headed. I got up, recovering, to see that the place in the center, where I had buried Cole, had exploded, becoming its own little mini crater in the center of a much larger crater, like someone had imprinted their boob on a plaster mold. And in the center... was him.

"Cole" I whispered, eyes wide. Flesh and blood, same tattoos, same clothes as I buried him in (although with significantly more holes). I was at a complete loss for words, I felt like I was frozen. He stretched out his arm and flexed his fingers, before letting a jolt of white-blue electricity flash in his palm.

"C-Cole..." I said, intending to say more but not really having the strength to do so. He seemed to hear me, because his head snapped in my direction, and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Hey Z. I'm back." He said.

"Cole!" I yelled. My body having finally unfrozen itself, I jumped up and I hightailed it over to Cole faster than a turkey the day 'fore thanksgiving and pulled him into the biggest hug I could, which he returned. We just held each other there for a while, enjoying each others company, brother to brother. After we broke apart he walked over and picked up the amp off the ground, where it had landed, putting it in his backpack.

"Zeke, I'm gonna need to get into Seattle somehow, think you can help?" He grinned at me. I grinned back.

"You bet your ass I can, but first, you're gonna have a beer with me and explain all this... shit." I said gesturing to him and the crater.


	3. Meanwhile, in Seattle

One week later

~Delsin's point of view~

Many things had not gone as I had wanted. Sure I had beat Augustine and drove the DUP out of Seattle and sure I was dating Fetch, but for the past half year since I beat Augustine, the three of us had been fighting and fighting in the Supreme Court to have Curdan Cay shut down for good. It had really taxed the life out of me. I just tried to keep the thought of Augustine's escape out of my head. Sitting in my Seattle apartment, my own little slice of hell as I liked to call it, I felt like I was going to explode. So I did what I always did, I took a walk. By walk of course, I mean I jumped around from building to building to keep my mind off things. Shortly after defeating Augustine I had learned how to switch powers without having to absorb from a power source. As I jumped through a vent to the top of a building someone seemed to notice me.

"Yo smokes, how's it goin?" Said an enthusiastic Fetch as she ran up the building and stopped next to me on the roof.

"Well someone's awfully happy today." I said, flashing a cocky grin.

"I found a calendar of drug shipments for the next few months on one of the supply boats I hit this morning. Not to mention I just so happened to run into my boyfriend so that's a win." She said giving me a quick kiss on the lips.

"Well, that's great Fetch." I said in a tired voice as I sat down on an air conditioning vent.

"Hey, what's up?" She said sitting down next to me, arm over my shoulders.

"It's just this whole court thing, it's taken years off my life, not to mention Augustine is back out there." I told her. The news about Augustine had come just a couple weeks ago, at a horrible time considering how far we were in this whole court deal. Even though I had driven the DUP out of the city I'm sure they're still out there. They have secret groups where people are still trained to capture conduits with concrete powers. I saw one once but they got away before I could capture them.

"Hey, don't worry about it D. I'm sure we'll convince 'em." She told me with complete confidence.

"Yeah, I hope so." I said.

"Now come on, we're getting lunch at Olaf's, your treat." She said smiling.

"Race you there!" I yelled as I jumped up, switched to neon and ran off. I ran as fast as I could to Olaf's with my girlfriend in tow, we ended up getting there at the same time. Fifteen minutes later we were sitting in the neon sign looking out over the small intersection beside Olaf's, eating lunch and making small talk. At that moment my phone rang.

"Delsin!" A voice said.

"Eugene, what's up?" I asked. Eugene had stopped being so reclusive in recent months. He still stayed inside and played video games a lot but he went out way more often than he used to

"You might want to take a look across the water. I gotta go, talk to you later." He said, hanging up the phone. I sat there wondering what he could possibly have meant before standing up and looking over the area of water between the two parts of Seattle.

"Oh shit." Was all I could say.


	4. The fight begins

~Cole's point of view~

It had taken a week but, thanks to Zeke's higher ranking in the DUP, I was finally in Seattle. He had managed to sneak me through all the checkpoints and things of that nature and had gotten me in. I was relaxing on a roof top after being in Seattle for only an hour when it happened. I looked out across the water and there it was. Right between the two parts of the city a giant concrete fortress was raising up out of the bay. 'Never a calm moment' I thought as I jumped down and ran towards the water. Once there I ice jumped into the air and used lightning tether to pull myself towards the place. Landing on it, I noticed a lot of people with concrete powers following me on. They seemed to notice me because they instantly started firing their machine guns. I threw up my kinetic shield to block them. Once their clips were empty I charged up and unleashed an overload burst onto them, knocking several out. One of them threw a large wad of concrete at me, which I rolled away from. I then shot two sticky rockets at them that homed and took out the remaining five. Suddenly my phone buzzed to life.

"Cole, you see that?" Zeke said.

"I'm already over here Zeke." I told him. Suddenly a new voice came through the speaker.

"This is Augustine's new lair." He said.

"Cole, who's that?" Zeke said skeptically.

"How the hell are we talking, Kessler?" I asked, surprised.

"I am talking because I wish to guide you through this ordeal. Now instead of fighting on this concrete platform directly above your biggest weakness, go to the opposite end of this place and climb the news tower. The other three will fight her here and drive her back to the top of the news tower where you can take her down. The outside of the tower is electrified so they can't chase her up it but you can go up no problem." He said to me.

"Cole, you're not seriously listening to this guy, are you?" Zeke inquired.

"He's the reason I'm alive right now Zeke, with all I owe him I don't really have a choice." I said.

"Fine, it's your choice." He told me. I quickly sprinted over to the other side and dragged myself over to the docks before climbing the news tower with lightning tether. Waiting there, a large demonic angel thing flew around the buildings toward the island fort with an army of angels and demons behind him.

"The hell was that?" I muttered to myself. As I followed it with my eyes, out to the island I noticed flashes coming from a point near the top of the fort. 'They must be fighting' I thought. The waiting became pretty boring for about half an hour so I decided to experiment with my powers a bit. I used a shot of the RFI power I had received and shot it right at the roof top. It felt weird to use to power that had killed me, and even weirder to think that it meant I was the exact opposite of John now. I didn't want to wear myself out so I didn't try anything else, all I had needed was proof that I had the power. I looked again at the fort and noticed a bridge had been built out of concrete from the island to this half of the city. A sphere of concrete was fleeing and fighting at the same time over the bridge while being pursued by three figures. One appeared to be made of light and was very fast, the other appeared to be shooting fire and the other was a giant angel demon. Before they could follow her any farther two large men who appeared to be inside concrete tornados jumped onto the bridge, delaying them. I new it was only a matter of minutes before the real fight finally began so I took a few swings with the amp and fired a few precision shots before walking over to the satellite dish and recharging.

"And who might you be?" I heard an obnoxious female voice say behind me. I turned to find a red head in a blue trench coat hovering inside the sphere of concrete.

"You Brooke Augustine?" I asked.

"And who might you be?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"My name's Cole Macgrath, and I'm here to take you down." She looked at me for a minute like I was crazy before bursting into laughter.

"Nice try, but really, who are you?" She said after her fit of laughter.

"You don't believe me?" I inquired. Another fit of laughter ensued.

"Everyone knows Cole MacGrath is dead. Why should I believe you?" She asked once her laughter had died down once more.

"Well, I can do this." I said, and with that I brought down an ionic storm from the sky, destroying her concrete and defeating her instantly. She flopped to the ground, barely conscious. All a once several soldiers jumped up onto the roof. She saw her chance and took it. Augustine jumped up and started running over to the side of the building. I saw what was going to happen and performed an ionic freeze, freezing the soldiers solid and leaving just the neck and head of Augustine out. Walking over to her I could tell she was trying to think this through.

"How are you here? Cole was killed by the RFI." She asked.

"Oh, you know, I have my ways," I said, "but speaking of the RFI." I stepped back, feeling a new power coming on. I forced the ice to get off her body. As suspected she tried to run. I shot a missile at her, not an electric missile but an RFI missile. It homed in on her and broke apart into electric lines that then wrapped themselves around her arms, legs, and body while also binding her wrists behind her back. I instantly knew what it did. It restrained conduits and stopped them from using their powers while leaving them conscious and alive.

"Augustine!" I heard a man cry out of nowhere. Suddenly, a young guy in a denim jacket, jeans and a hat jumped over my head and landed in the middle of the roof, followed quickly by the person made of light who stopped next to him and turned out to be a 20 something chick while the giant angel demon flew up to the side of the building and transformed into a teenage kid with glasses. They all looked at me with eyes full of suspicion until they saw what I did to Augustine, which made them look at me with even more suspicion.

"Hello, I'm Cole MacGrath."


	5. Back to prison

They looked at me as one would expect them to, considering everyone knew I was dead. To prove it I fired off an alpha bolt showing I had the electric power.

"Holy shit." The one with glasses said.

"It really is." The light speed one said.

"So, I assume you're Delsin, Fetch, and Eugene?" I asked them.

"And if we are?" The denim jacket guy said.

"Then I say well met, you guys are doing great work." I told them. Zeke had told me what they were doing in the Supreme Court.

"Would you mind introducing yourselves?" I asked.

"I'm Delsin, delinquent and spray-paint enthusiast." The one in the denim jacket said. 'Good, now I know who to look out for.' I thought.

"I'm Fetch." The light speed one said.

"I'm Eugene." The giant angel demon guy said.

"Good, now that that's out of the way, we need to get her back to jail." I said pointing at Augustine. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Delsin smoke jump at me. As I turned he grabbed both of my hands. Pain surged like a broken dam. I could feel him starting to see my memories when I remembered what Kessler said. Instantly I shot two RFI blasts into his hands, forcing him out of my brain. He stumbled backwards looking at his palms. I fell to one knee.

"What did you do?!" He screamed at me.

"Don't worry, it's not permanent, I just had to stop you from getting my powers. Your other powers should be back in a few hours." I told him. He looked at me with surprise.

"Oh yeah, I know all about your conduit powers. All three of you. Since I know about your powers, you should know about mine. My main power is electricity but I can also use ice, napalm, and a power that takes away the powers of other conduits. Now, if you're done standing around gawking, let's get her to a prison," I said picking Augustine up.

"Hey Zeke, I'm gonna need a chopper." I said into my phone.

"Sure thing brother." Two hours later we were flying back to Seattle. We had to go all the way down to Olympia and give to a local jail there so she could be transferred back to a prison. No one had said anything since then. Delsin was just starting to get his powers back. I decided to break the silence.

"Sorry for taking away your powers, I just didn't want someone else to have my powers." I told him. He said nothing and continued trying to fire a smoke shot out the side of the chopper. After arriving back in Seattle, Delsin finally had his powers back and ran off before I could say anything.

"Sorry about his attitude, he's just stressed because of the whole court thing." Fetch said coming up behind me.

"I assume having his powers taken away didn't help either." I told her.

"Yeah, I think it reminded him of his brother, Reggie." She told me.

"What happened?"

"Back when we fought Augustine the first time he wasn't as powerful as he was now. She had another fort like that. Delsin ended up trusting the guy who gave him the smoke power, Hank, and going on the fort to fight with Hank while Reggie drove over in a boat. Hank betrayed him and Augustine incased his hands in concrete, which disabled his powers. As Augustine was distracted by talking to Delsin, Reggie fired an RPG at her. Delsin made his way over and Reggie broke the concrete on his hands. Augustine broke the concrete underneath Reggie and started cocooning him in concrete while Delsin struggled to pull him up. Reggie decided to stop Delsin from being stuck in concrete, let go of his hand, and fell in to the ocean." She explained.

"I see." 'So he's lost someone too' I thought.


	6. Making up

The next week went by in a blur. Nothing really happened except for a few updates from Zeke regarding the court case. Today, Fetch was taking me with her to destroy drug boats with Delsin, her idea of bonding time between us. Waiting on a rooftop with Delsin, tension was high between us. Fetch came running up the back of the building.

"Well, I see you two are getting along well." She said sarcastically.

"Honestly? What did you expect?" I asked her.

"Let's just get this over with." Delsin said.

"Alright, you two get down there and mark the boats, I'll stay up here and tell you more info as we go." She said. We jumped down and went across the street to the marina. Before we went in I stopped Delsin.

"Look, I can tell you don't like me. You want this to be over quickly. So I say we combine our powers."

"I'm listening."

"I think your smoke power and my lightning might be compatible. If we use our powers together they'll be a lot stronger. Let's try it out." I could see he was interested so I just walked over to the entrance, attracting the attention of a couple dealers. They shouted at me and pointed their guns. I just put my hands up without firing anything. I saw a cloud of smoke gather around them and fired, still keeping my hands up. The cloud combusted and covered them both in fire. They both jumped in the water, where I shocked them to death while they stayed burning. 'Fire that can't be put out, good to know.' I thought.

"Oh yeah!" I heard him yell behind me. I turned around to see him smiling.

"I told you." I yelled over to him. As I was about to go fight I heard him yell over to me.

"Hey Cole, fire!" I turned to see a house boat covered entirely by smoke. I charged up an overload burst and fired. The whole boat went up in flames and sank within a minute, which Delsin was celebrating.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all but there are still three more boats." Fetch said through my phone. Luckily the remaining three were all right next to each other. Delsin and I made our way over there while beating up dealers left and right, figuring out a few more ways to combine our powers that the writer was too lazy to come up with. Once we got over to the boats, we realized there was no one guarding them. Walking forward cautiously I couldn't help but get a bad feeling from this. Suddenly a mini gunner stepped out covered in concrete. I was about to fight when Delsin turned into smoke and jumped far into the air. This gave me an idea. When he was falling back down I struck him with ionic storm, sending him at light speed back to the ground where he sent out an explosion that incinerated the boats, the mini gunner, and a large chunk of the marina. Luckily the blast sent me all the way back to land so I couldn't fall into the water. Standing up after that was a challenge. Delsin was lucky enough to be able to swim, so it was no problem for him.

"What the hell was that?" Fetch said running up to us as Delsin pulled himself out of the ocean.

"I struck Delsin with lightning as he was using his orbital drop," I told her, "it wiped out the whole place."

"I can see that." She said.

"Hey Cole, sorry for, you know, being a dick." Delsin said.

"Hey, it's cool. I hope we can do it again sometime." I said walking off.

* * *

A.N. I don't like doing authors notes so this will probably be my only one. 2 chapters from now is when things will really get hectic, I promise. I am having a blast writing this and I hope you like reading this. To the person who requested I do longer chapters: No.


	7. Happy times

The weeks went by even faster after that. It's been a month since I came to Seattle and beat Augustine. The days went by quite easily. Delsin and Fetch were occupied with the court case, Eugene had changed and was usually out trying to find DUP operations, Zeke was supplying a steady stream of knowledge about the DUP's plans, while I just relaxed for the first time in a while. I took out whatever illegal things I found but for the most part I didn't have a whole lot to do. Delsin was extremely stressed about the whole court ordeal so when the news came that the Supreme Court justice would be making his final decision over the weekend, Delsin was overjoyed. We all talked and decided to celebrate it just being over. We were all over on Zeke's roof having a party when I noticed one very important guest was missing. Delsin was on an adjacent roof, alone. Jumping over I noticed he was holding a picture of someone who appeared to be in their twenties with a sheriffs badge on.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"My brother, he was killed by Augustine." He said in a somber tone.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said patting him on the back, "but you're not the only one who's lost something." I took off my backpack and fished out a small photo of a woman with black hair that came to her shoulders and handed it to Delsin.

"Who's this?" He asked.

"My girlfriend. She died back in Empire." I told him. He handed it back to me. I stared at the picture for another minute before putting it back in my backpack.

"Hey, come on man. This things finally gonna be over, now's not the time to be moping." I said, motioning for him to come back to the party. He started walking back over toward me.

"Thanks for being a good friend, Cole." He said.

"Don't mention it." I said back. The rest of the party was a fun time, at least what I could remember was quite fun. I woke up on the ground the next morning, the sun shining straight into my eyes. I looked around to see a few things thrown around the place and Zeke still passed out on the couch. I got up off the ground and sat down on the couch, simultaneously waking him up. We could both feel a headache coming on so we said little for a few minutes before the T.V. buzzed to life. At first it was just static, but then a little girl wearing a paper mask appeared.

"Attention people of Seattle, I would like to inform you that this city is now under our control. We are working with the DUP soldiers that have secretly infiltrated this city and have built an army. Anyone who attempts to stand in our way will be permanently wiped out." She said before the screen dissolved into static again, this time with a symbol. It was the DUP logo except the bird in the middle was an origami crane.

~Meanwhile, Ceilia's point of view~

The broadcast ended and I looked over to the man I was working with.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked him.

"Now we cause chaos. Those fools in the DUP want their leader back and were stupid enough to think we would help them. We'll take the city first, then we go after the government. Once we capture Augustine, we turn on them. Then we storm Curdan Cay, getting all those prisoners out in the open will finally bring us the freedom and chaos we deserve." He said, twirling his cane as he did so.

"What about Delsin?" I asked him.

"If he gets in the way, he will have to pay the price."

"I see." He laughed softly, to himself while looking at the screen we had set up in front of him.

"It's been a long time, Cole." He muttered, his one white eye shining in the screen's light.


	8. Fight and reunion

"Delsin, you seeing this?" I yelled into my phone as we got to Denny park.

"How could I miss it?" He yelled back. It was insane, completely and utterly insane.

~One hour earlier~

Zeke and I were dumbfounded. The city was being taken over by some sort of new army. The soldiers were wearing black armor, but it seemed like only some of them had concrete while the others had... I don't know, some sort of metal. I turned on my phone and started a group call before jumping down and starting to fight. Everyone picked up and instantly started talking.

"Hold on, one at a time! Eugene, do you know anything about that broadcast."

"No, they had some sort of jammer preventing me from tracking it."

"I know who that girl was." Delsin said into his phone.

"Who?" I asked

"Celia, the first conduit locked up in Curdan Cay. Control over paper." Zeke chimed in faster than Delsin did.

"She's trying to get freedom for all conduits, any way she can." Delsin told us.

"We have to figure out where they are." I said. Almost as if on cue a large bang erupted from the other side of the city.

"Delsin, Fetch, Eugene get over there as fast as possible. Zeke and I will be there in a few minutes." Zeke already knew what I was talking about because he was waiting for me when I got there. We rode across the bay in his chopper. He dropped me off in the HingHay market while he went to search. Delsin ran up beside me.

"What're you doing here? Where's Fetch and Eugene?" I asked.

"We split up, cover more ground that way." He told me.

"Makes sense." Out of nowhere Celia stopped right in front of us, leaving a trail of paper behind her.

"Delsin, stop. I don't want you to get hurt. You're a good person, join us." She said to him.

"Join you? I'm trying to help conduits peacefully, you're killing people."

"Sometimes there must be death before there can be freedom." She told us.

"You're crazy!" He yelled at her. She took a fighting stance.

"Then I have no choice." She said. She then started shooting a line of paper at me. This would have been fine, but it was sharp paper, making paper cuts all over my body. It felt like a thousand tiny razor cuts all over. This kept me from shooting at her. Delsin started running at her, chain out. She started shooting at him, giving me just enough time. I shot a single beam of RFI at her. It was headed straight for her but she paper dashed away before it hit. Luckily I could chase after her (thank god for fast healing). Delsin was right behind me, but she was too fast. I felt something new come on, a feeling I hadn't felt since the last blast core. I looked at a generator to my right and dashed into it. My body became electricity and traveled through the city itself, popping out of an air conditioner on top of one of the tall buildings near Denny park. I noticed Celia running for something huge. Delsin jumped up onto another tall roof.

"Delsin, you seeing this?" I yelled into my phone.

"How could I miss it?" He yelled back. It was insane, completely and utterly insane. There was a fifteen foot sphere of concrete and what looked like scrap metal hovering over the center of the park. The scrap metal jogged my memory. How could I have forgotten. The Trash Baggers, they must be working with the DUP. They had to be. No one else had scrap metal powers. I was awoken from my day dream by Delsin yelling through the phone for everyone to get over here.

"Delsin, incase it in smoke." As I saw a layer of smoke appeared I quickly fired a bolt. It exploded on contact but left the sphere undamaged. Fetch and Eugene came in at that time, Eugene in his angel form. It was then I remembered that they both could fire lasers.

"Eugene, Fetch, you both fire at the same point on the sphere." I told them. They jumped to either side of me and fired right at the same spot. After a minute the sphere started cracking, scrap metal was falling off, but was being repaired at the same time. I knew if we continued letting them repair it, we would start losing energy so I did the only thing I thought logical, I charged up my RFI laser and fired at the same spot. The sphere shattered, Celia falling out of it. Eugene created an army of angels and demons and we all jumped down there, but not before an army of DUPs and trash baggers formed a protective layer around her. I dove in. I fought and fought again and again, taking out one guy after another. Occasionally I caught a glimpse of Delsin and Celia dueling it out. After a few minutes it seemed like we were outnumbered, before Zeke came in with his helicopter, guns blazing. He mowed down close to thirty of them before he was forced to bail and his chopper crashed. I saw him falling and threw a lightning tether up the building, catching him as I flew up. once I floated back to the ground using my thrusters, I set him down.

"Thanks brother." He said before getting out his revolver and joining the fight. We took out most of them but two big guys showed up, the ones with concrete revolving around them. We were drained, even Eugene looked like he could go back to being a human at any moment. My phone buzzed to life.

"Your surprise is on its way, Cole." Kessler said. 'Good, now I've got that to worry about' I thought. We tried to fight but at this point it was more of just hiding and distracting them. Eugene was back as a human and was running away to recharge. I decided to resort to my last ionic charge,(the other two I used while fighting) I had been saving it for Celia but I didn't have a choice. I waited until they were as close as possible to eachother before summoning a lightning storm. Once they were down I looked to see Celia about to kill Delsin. He was lying on the ground unconscious while Celia had a paper sword raised above her head. I shot a binding rocket. It couldn't have got there in time, I knew that as soon as I fired. I thought I was about to see Delsin die. Out of nowhere a large piece of wood lodged itself in her ribs and surprised her just long enough for the binding rocket to tie her up. Everyone stopped hiding and came out to see what had happened.

"How'd that piece of wood get there?" Zeke asked.

"No clue, but right now we've got to get them to safety." I told him. He picked up Celia over his shoulder and carried the unconscious Delsin bridal style. We started walking away.

"Cole..." I thought I heard someone say my name but I ignored it.

"Cole" louder this time. I stopped. My heart fluttered for a moment before I realized my mind was probably playing a trick on me. I kept walking.

"Cole!" I heard the yell. I turned around and my heart jumped into my throat. I was overcome with emotion. Before I could stop myself I ran faster than I ever had. I could see her running too. We met in the middle and embraced. It felt better than I remembered it. Electric tears streamed down my face.

"Cole." She whispered through her own tears. I could tell we both felt the same things, after all, it had been seven years. I couldn't talk or move, the moment felt too good. I ended up stammering out the only thing I could.

"Trish..."


	9. Just an update

Hello everybody. This is just an explanation of things that have gone on recently as well as a few story things.

If you're wondering why it's been a while since I posted, it's due to the fact that my uncle recently died. He was always one of my closest family members. It really hit me hard for a few weeks and is the reason for my absence. I am still taking a break from this story, however I will return to it eventually. Also I would like to play First Light before I start working on this again.

Another thing I would like to discuss is the growth of Cole's powers. I am not going to expand on his electric powers very much. The reason for this is the fact that the only reason Cole, Delsin, Kuo, Nix, and Bertrand were anywhere near as powerful as they were is because they got those powers artificially. By this, I mean that they got that powerful through methods that were man-made, for instance: A Ray Sphere, a blast core, a blast shard, a core relay, power transfer devices, getting power pumped out of you and creating an army with that power (which seems to be a recurring theme in this series), etc. Since Delsin has already found all blast shards and core relays in Seattle, and the rest are in the hands of the DUP, Cole has no way of getting powers artificially and thus must wait over the course of several months or years for powers to come to him.

Also, I am NOT bringing Kuo or Nix back, so don't ask for it. They served their purpose to Cole's story by guiding him and helping him decide whether or not to kill The Beast, they would serve no purpose in the story as it is and would probably be neglected by me. I'm sorry to any and everyone who wanted them back but no amount of reviewing will change my opinion on this, so please just let them rest in peace. It's my story, I choose to do what I want, and this isn't one of the things that I want.

Sorry if you thought this was a chapter.

~Nnarect


	10. Sand Storm

~Alex's point of view~

"Hey Sand, you ready?", Leather tapped from his cell.

"Yeah, been ready for five years", I tapped back.

I should probably explain how we got to this point so I'll start from the beginning, my beginning to be exact. My real name is Alex Sandal, but behind these walls, nobody's got a real name. I'm known as Sand, for my control over sand. I was born around 24 years ago in the eastern mountains of California near a small town named Sonora. I lived there all my life and by the time Cole McGrath saved New Marais, I had a pretty good life. I passed through school with A's and B's, had a pretty and nice girlfriend, didn't have a lot of friends but the ones I did have were great people who would take a bullet for each other.

I was nineteen when it happened, the thing that finally sparked my powers. It had been a particularly dry year, reservoirs were down, sand all around instead of dirt. One night a group of jocks tied my hands behind me and forced me to watch as they tried to rape my girlfriend. Tried. They started to strip her when I felt something inside of me like no other. Power raging through me like an unstoppable tidal wave. The sand rose up around me like I was Garaa or some shit and covered the jocks, crushing their bodies faster than I could snap my fingers. She looked at me with only fear in her eyes, fear that consumed and erased the love she once felt. I blacked out.

DUP found me a day or two later while I was still sleeping off the after effects of a power high. They had been phoned in by the same girl I trusted with my life. Woke up strapped to a table and got interrogated by that red headed whore. Those years were the worst days of my life. Came close to going full bore crazy a couple times. I've only got one good memory of that bitch Augustine. She came down to my cell by herself and told me that my friends had come to the prison several times, begging, pleading to see me. She explained that she wouldn't allow them in because not only was this place too dangerous, but so was I. She stared right through me the whole time she talked. Eventually she stopped and looked away from the bars. A message suddenly raised out of the concrete floor. "I'm sorry", it said before sinking back down after she walked off. Then, about 6 months ago, things became better. We still had to be fed and washed and all that shit, but the tests stopped. We were suddenly given free time to socialize with the other inmates, board games and cards were given to play with (even though they were basically impossible to play with due to the cuffs that cover your whole hand, but it's the thought that counts I guess). Couldn't figure out why, until I overheard the guards talking about a new leader of the DUP. That's when I met them. Rubber, Fabric, Glass, Wire and Leather.

Rubber's one of the newer guys in here, but he's most certainly not one of the weaker ones. Came in just over 2 years ago. No clue why his powers took that long to reveal themselves. He had been a starting lineman on his high school team and had been playing football all his life. He never really says anything about how he got his powers, just that he was 15, and that when he did, he trained with his powers in secret until someone accidentally saw him and reported it. He's got a shaved head, hazel brown eyes, and is around 6'2. He's 17 now.

Fabric was one of the first to be brought in, right along side Paper. He's 29 now, with dark brown eyes, ginger hair, Native American descent, and he's about 5'9. They never really tested his power on DUP soldiers, so he wasn't anywhere near as crazy as the other veterans of this place. He was better than the rest of us due to his fighting the riots in Empire. He and I were the ones to first start talking about this plan that we had put so much time into.

Glass and Wire were lovers before their powers came. Both were 14 when it happened. They got picked up a few months after the DUP first started. They've been tested on so much I'm surprised they're not completely insane, even if their cells were right next to each other. They had to rely on each other more times than they could count to stay sane. Glass was the punk girl who was in a band with her friends, the girl who liked shopping at Hot Topic. She's got gray eyes with black hair tied in a pony tail and is about 5'4. Wire was the slightly tech-savvy punk boy who helped them produce their album and loved to skateboard. He's around 5'7 with green eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair. They're both 21 now. They spend pretty much every moment they have, together.

Leather came in a day or 2 after me got the cell right next to me too. He was basically the only friend I've had since I got thrown in this hell hole. He said that he was drunk, so he doesn't remember getting his powers, just that he was drinking and then he woke up strapped to a table. He was able to undo the straps with his power, but he was quickly sedated and put in the cell. We never talked about our pasts or anything personal or even our names, just mundane things like imagining scenarios and being there for each other when the tests became too much. He is 26 now and has light brown eyes and light brown hair and stands at about 6'5

As for me, I'm 5'11 with short dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes. I originally got everyone together to discuss this plan. I taught everyone morse code to easier communicate without everyone knowing what we're doing, which is how Leather, Fabric, and I have been communicating recently (Fabric's cell is just down the hall from ours). I chipped away at the walls of my cell, chipping concrete away hour after hour, day after day. Finally, after five months of planning, I had two handfuls of concrete sand, ready and stored in my body. It's finally time to take back what's ours. Freedom.

~Cole's point of view~

I held her there in my arms for what felt like eternity, tears streaming down my face, never wanting to let her go again. We pulled out of our embrace for only a moment, to stare into each other's eyes before resuming. Everything about her was the same as the day I last held her. Same height, same eyes, same hair, same everything. Yet something seemed different about her, almost like she had an air of more power than the last time she was alive. It didn't matter to me, I was just happy we were together finally, and this time I was never letting her go. Suddenly, my phone buzzed to life.

"Enjoying your present Cole?" He asked

"This is my present?" I ask him.

"Cole, I've spent so much trying to forge you into the toughest warrior on this earth. I've forced onto you so much pain and hate. Consider this a parting gift. An apology for all of the pain I inflicted onto you. I don't regret the pain I've inflicted on you because it was necessary, however I do want you to be happy. I've had a plan in motion since I came to the past. A plan for peace between humans and conduits. I brought you back to life so that you could work with Delsin to make that plan a reality." He told me.

"Wait, why are you telling me about this plan of yours? This isn't like you." I interrogate further.

"I'm about to disappear. Bringing you back was easy, however bringing Trish back was hard. Her body was destroyed by the beast. This is a new body I've crafted for her, which may have a few surprises for you. Creating this took up all of my remaining energy, and thus my spirit will venture onward. Goodbye Cole, and good luck." He said as the phone grew silent.

"Surprises?" I asked, looking at Trish who had been silent up until now. She looked at me with her beautiful brown eyes. Her eyes, which I hadn't seen in so long.

"I'm a conduit"

~Alex's Point of view~

I materialized the sand around my wrists like I had been practicing for weeks, managing to slip through the cuffs. I maneuvered some sand through the bars of the door and slipped the grains into the lock, forcing it to unlock itself. I didn't open the door yet however, and instead made sure no one was around before doing the same thing to Leather's door. I checked again to make sure no one was around before slowly opening the door and sending the same sand to open Fabric's door. They both came out slowly, stealthily, and came to me. I took off their cuffs and we took off to find the others. Glass and Wire were easy to find, considering that very few guards were around the older wing of the prison. Probably thought that the older people of the prison were all crazy. We got to Rubber easy enough.

"Stop!" I hear as I go to take off his cuffs. I turn around and see a DUP officer reaching for an alarm switch. Faster than I thought possible, my sand wrapped around his entire hand and crushed it. Out of nowhere, Rubber, with his cuffs still on, slams into the officer, sending him flying around 20 yards back. Looking closer I see that his whole shoulder has transformed into rubber. Not questioning it, I took off his cuffs and we proceeded to try and find the exit. While searching and avoiding guards, we end up in one of the testing rooms. We got lucky that no one was using it at the time, otherwise we would really have been screwed instead of our current situation, in which we're probably screwed anyway. Luckily, there was a door at the other end of the room. Before we left however, Leather took 2 belts from the table and wrapped them around his wrists.

"Good thinking. We're going to need everyone we can to fight." I told him. He smiled in return. We went through the door, only to discover a long hallway filled with guards, a door at the end.

"Run" I said. We all immediately started sprinting, bullets flying all around us. I glanced behind me, only to see Fabric trip and fall. Immediately I ran back and helped him up. Ahead of us the door was closing from the top down all Indiana Jones style. Rubber made it there first, seeing as he was a football player and all. Leather was next followed by Wire and Glass. The door was just about to close when Fabric and I got there. We jumped and rolled, just barely missing being crushed. Just outside, my eyes adjusted to the white light of the snow, light that I hadn't seen in forever, only to see a bunch of DUP all standing there in a semicircle, guns raised.

"You do know that we have cameras everywhere, correct?" A bald man asked from behind the soldiers. Glass and Wire raised their hands in defeat. Leather unraveled his belts. Out of nowhere, the bulletproof glass if their helmets broke inward, ripping their heads into shreds. I looked back to see Glass, her arms extended, an angry look taking the place of her usual smile. Rubber charged forward faster than anyone could register and knocked out the man standing behind them. We ran. It took us about five hours of running through the mountains, getting out of the snow, and practically falling down a huge mountain slope before the DUP caught up with us. The same bald man as before stood before us next to three of the heavily armored soldiers, a bandage over his forehead.

"I underestimated you last time. Not a mistake I'll make again." He said through gritted teeth. I glanced right, only to notice a small cliff leading to the ocean. Ocean means beach. Beach means sand. Sure enough, there was a beach right there. I barely managed to hide a grin. I raised the most sand I could, about double the size of a person, masking the action by raising my hands. Then, with the flick of my wrist, I sent the sand hurtling into one of them, before raising it back up and attacking another. While the bald man was distracted by this, Leather rushed forward, whipping his belts around and fighting the third, while Rubber rushed forward to knock him out again. He dodged and coiled concrete around his fist before repaying Rubber for the punch earlier. Thing about hitting rubber is, it hits back. Rubber got punched in the face, but the fist bounced back and hit it's owner as well.

"Get to the beach!" I shouted. Everyone immediately ran over to and jumped down the small cliff to the sand.

"What now?" Leather asked once everyone was safely down.

"Sit down with your legs crossed" I told them, looking down the many miles of beach "this is going to be bumpy." I felt something inside me awaken, like the first time I used my powers, yet smaller. Everyone looked confused but did as I said. Slowly the sand rose up in the places that they were sitting until they became sand hills, easily big enough for a person to lie down on. Suddenly they started moving, slowly at first, however quickly picking up speed. Before I could realize what was happening, I was surfing on the sand and the others were moving along behind me as quick as I was. I felt the wind flowing through my hair, salty mist in the air pelting my face. I felt free. Finally, after all these years, free. I surfed down the beaches for miles until finally reaching a cave. After getting settled, we gathered materials for a fire and hunted a few animals for dinner. We waited until nightfall before starting the fire and began to talk amongst ourselves

"So what's the plan?" Questioned Wire.

"I know a few friends down where I used to live, in California. They'll probably help us." I said.

"Probably?" Asked Leather.

"Even if they won't help us, how are we going to get there?" Asks Glass

"I say we find the nearest highway, go to a rest stop, steal a truck and drive down. We'll be there by night fall if we really book it." Fabric says. All are silent for a moment as we consider this plan.

"I say we do it." I say.

"We can't just steal another persons car!" Rubber exclaims.

"They stole our freedom, a car is nothing compared to that! Besides, I don't see a better plan on the horizon. We need to get out of this area fast, I managed to get us far enough that the DUP won't find us now, but tomorrow this place'll be swarming with DUPs." I tell him. He quiets down.

"Let's leave it to a vote," Glass says, "all in favor of this course of action raise your hand." She says. My hand, Glass's hand, and Wire's hand go up.

"It's decided then. Tomorrow we drive down to California and hopefully get some help." Leather says with a sigh, "You guys get some sleep, I'll take first watch." He says. I lie down and take a look around me. Glass and Wire are lying in each others arms, foreheads pressed together, thighs tangled. Fabric is staring off into space as though deep in thought, Rubber is already out like a rock. I close my eyes and let sleep take me as I am lulled by the crackling fire to the best sleep of my life.

AN: Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry I took so long to update, but expect me to be more frequent in my updates from now on. Once again I'm incredibly sorry it took this long, but as I said my uncles death really crushed me for a long time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please leave any suggestions you have in a review or PM me. See you next update!


	11. Woodn't you know it

**Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I updated this. To be honest, the reason I have been gone for so long is because I lost motivation to write the story and I didn't want the story to be badly written because I knew I wouldn't be able to write well unless I had motivation. Luckily I recently replayed the origional infamous which gave me the motivation to continue the story. I can't promise how often I will be updating these, so please be patient, but I promise you that this story isn't over yet and I do intend to finish it. Once again, sorry about the wait. Please tell me how I did on this chapter and I love you guys.**

~Third person point of view~

"Wait, you're... what?" Cole said, his confused expression mirroring that of Zeke's. At this moment, Delsin began to wake up and Zeke set him down on his feet, his weight still partially supported by Fetch.

"Kessler filled me in on everything that happened while I was... gone. When the beast wiped out Empire, my body was destroyed. During these past years, Kessler kept my soul sleeping in... wherever he is. While you were doing your part Kessler was completely recreating my body as it was, with the small difference of giving me the conduit gene." She explained to the now shocked duo.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt this slightly sappy romance scene, but who is this?" Delsin jumped in.

"This, is Trish Dailey," Zeke informed him, "She was Cole's girlfriend before the first Ray Sphere Blast in Empire. She took care of him while he was in a coma after the blast. When she found out that her sister was killed, she became convinced that Cole caused the blast. She broke up with him and tried to stay away from him. Cole worked on helping people with his new powers in Empire, including helping her on a few occasions. He gradually started to earn back her trust bit by bit until she asked him to protect a bus of medical supplies on its way to a hospital on the opposite side of town. When she got there, the leader of an army of homeless people, a conduit named Alden threw the bus on the roof of the hospital. Cole battled through dozens of soldiers before finally reaching the roof. After saving her, she forgave him and apologized for being so cold to him even though the blast wasn't his fault and he was trying to help people. Later on, a man named Kessler dangled Trish off one roof and six doctors off another with not enough time to save them both. Cole did the right thing, saving the doctors. He was able to bring her back for only a few seconds, long enough for her to tell him that she was proud of him for helping people and making the city a better place."

"Okay, geez. I only asked who she was, not her life story." Delsin replied with a smirk.

"But... how? I mean, I understand what you're saying here, but even Kessler can't just create a body!" Zeke exclaimed.

"Well, if he couldn't create a body, explain how I'm here." She said.

"If you're Trish Dailey, tell us something only we would know." Zeke said, gesturing to himself and Cole. The tension in the air thickened for a moment before she finally responded.

"Alright, fine. A year ago- I mean... eight years ago, I was working hard on getting my Medical degree in college. I was pulling an all nighter at the library when I fell asleep. The next morning I woke up back in my sorority, my roommate told me about how in the middle of the night a bald guy who was normally known as a delinquent around the school dropped me and my materials off at my sorority and left me a note to go with it. The note said 'I left all your stuff with you, but I have all your computer notes with me on a flash drive. If you want it back, my number is XXX-XXXX, all you need to do is have coffee with me.' So, I met him for coffee, against the warnings of my sister, we started dating, and the rest is history"

"Cole?" Zeke replied, directing attention to Cole.

"Yeah, it's true. I found her passed out at the library computers and took her home, asking her friend to give her a note for me." Cole told.

"Wow, sweet love story, straight out of a book" Fetch chimed in.

"But that still doesn't prove Kessler created your body." Zeke said. In reply, Trish held out her arms and sharp, jagged, splintery spikes of wood surrounded her arms. She pointed a finger at a nearby tree and shot one of the spikes at super speed into the tree. Everyone was shocked at this new development, as evident on their faces.

"So, you're a conduit now. That's... that's a lot to take in." Cole sighed, sitting down on a curb.

"Yeah" Trish said with a slight blush. It was evident to the others that things were awkward between them, yet they were still exuberant that they had another chance to be together.

"So, have you had much chance to test out your powers? Hone your skills any?" Delsin stepped up and asked. Trish shook her head no.

"I just got back about a day ago, I'm still not used to feeling this light or having these abilities." She responded.

"Alright, well why don't we go take out some supply boats tonight? There's a new shipment coming in and we're all wondering what you can do, so let's test out your new powers." Fetch suggested.

"You want to?" Cole asked, looking at Trish.

"Take out supply ships? Why would anyone do that?" She asked as it became apparent to everyone that they hadn't specified that it was drug suppliers they were taking out.

"What, take down some drug dealers? Is that what you do in your free time now?" She asked.

"Not drug dealers, drug supply boats. They come in every once in a while and we destroy them. Taking down those scumbag dealers is my business." Fetch said.

"Right... sorry, but that's not really what I do. I'm a doctor, I don't want to use these powers to hurt people unless I have to. Besides I've got a lot of stuff to sort out, being dead isn't exactly a good alibi, and Cole and I probably need to talk a few things over, so I'll have to decline." Trish responded. She was beginning to turn away when Cole caught her arm and turned her back to him.

"Come on Trish... this'll be helping people, keeping drugs off the streets. Besides, how are you going to learn how to use your powers without practice?" Cole asked. Trish seemed to stay apprehensive of this plan. "Come on, just this once?" Trish looked into Cole's eyes for a long second before finally responding.

"Alright, just this once. But after this I'm going to the hospital and working as a doctor again, this time using my new powers to heal people." She explained. Relief flashed over Cole's face as he gave her a hug.

"So what is it?" Fetch interrupted.

"What is what?" Trish asked, confusion apparent on her face.

"Your power. You never told us what you controlled." Fetch answered.

"Oh, right, sorry. I control wood." With that she lifted her arms as thick, razor sharp pieces of wood materialized around her arms. To demonstrate, she fired one into a wall nearby, piercing the concrete. It took a moment but a wave of understanding washed over the group as they all looked over to see the matching piece of wood sticking out of Celia's side. Cole glanced over to Delsin, who was watching with awe and, before anyone could notice, mouthed 'Don't even think about it' as soon as Delsin noticed him. Delsin lifted his hand in a mock surrender and backed up a few feet. Satisfied, Cole turned back to the love of his life, a newfound joy growing in his heart. The girl of his dreams was back, and this time she had enough power to heal thousands and, more importantly to Cole, protect herself.

-Time skip to night-

"Alright Trish, you ready for this?" Cole asked, glancing to his side, where she was standing, idly swinging their intertwined hands. They were standing on the building opposite the docks, drug dealers and boats in sight, visibly armed.

"I-I don't know Cole, I don't think I can do this, what if something happens?" She asked in a scared/concerned voice, glancing back into his eyes. Cole turned her to face him and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Hey, don't worry. We're all conduits here, it'll take more than a few gunshots to hurt any of us. Besides, if we do get hurt, you'll be here to help us. I'm gonna be here with you all the way, okay?" Cole said staring straight into her eyes, pep talking her. She gave a small nod and tried her best to look confident as Cole kissed her on the forehead. They had talked things over and decided they would put everything that happened in Empire behind them, and stay a couple. Cole turned back to the docks and intertwined their fingers again, squeezing her hand in encouragement slightly.

"Alrighty love birds, you ready?" Fetch asked. She was the only one to come, as Delsin had decided it would be a good idea to rest after being so tired out today. Cole and Fetch were tired as hell too, but they didn't plan to do much more than observe Trish's new powers.

"As I can be" Trish responded a little shakily. A slight drizzle had started coming down, not even close to enough water to hurt Cole in the slightest, but unpleasant all the same. Even though the rain wasn't fun, Cole felt better than he had all day. He felt powerful, he felt the lightning being formed in the clouds, but didn't want to risk hurting anyone near him, so he chose not to call it down to him.

"Alright, here's the plan. Trish, you go in and see what you can do, Fetch and I will back you up if you need it." Cole told her, squeezing her hand again. "You're gonna do fine." He whispered to her under his breath. She nodded slightly and jumped down from the roof, making her way slowly across the street and onto the dock. The first patrol she took by surprise, firing a splinter (wood bolt) into the side of his calf muscle. The second noticed her, but couldn't do anything as the splinter imbedded itself in his right shoulder. Trish quickly ran up and extended her arms to them. Her hands and fingers turned into wood and rushed forward from her hands, creating thick tree branches wrapping themselves around the two men. She rushed forward only to be confronted by three men standing in a row, aiming at her. In a split second, she flicked her arm and ripped the boards they were standing on right out from under them, dropping the men into the marina. She moved forward and found the first boat. She ran around the back and checked to make sure the drugs were there before raising one side of the boards they were sitting on and sliding them into the ocean. She moved on towards the next boat, finding four guards patrolling and a sniper on one of the boats. The first guy she kicked right in the chest, extending wood from the bottom of her foot to knock him back, before punching him in the face with a wooden fist. Once he was down, she quickly ran behind a stack of boats to avoid the sniper. Peering out, she managed to pick off two more guys with splinters. The fourth guy she was about to take out when the sniper started giving her trouble. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't get a shot off on the final guy without getting hurt by the sniper. Quickly, she leaned the other way around the stack and extended her arm. From her arm, a sort of branch/vine thing extended and wrapped itself around the sniper's waist. From there, she ripped her arm backwards, catapulting the sniper into the marina like a whip. The fourth guy she finally took out with a splinter to the thigh. After subduing all of them, she slid the drugs into the harbor on the second and final boat, before beginning to make her way back. It was at that moment, that a crowd of Dust Men showed up at the entrance of the marina, all of them sporting rocket launchers, all of them aimed at Trish. Cole knew he couldn't fight them all as he was now, so he immediately got another idea. Cole raised one hand up towards the sky as lightning began filling him with power. Immediately, an old feeling began to bubble back up, an old power that was charging with more and more power than he'd ever given it.

"Trish watch out!" Cole screamed into his phone as Overload Burst came blasting out of his hand and right into the midst of the transients. It was too late though, three of their rockets had gotten through before he could take them out. Cole watched in despair as they jetted towards Trish, only Trish was prepared, she had seen them run up. In less than a second, her hands and fingers extended into a mass of huge branches, forming a huge shield around her. The three rockets hit, and the shield remained undamaged. A moment later, Trish absorbed the shield back into her hands and continued over to the building where Cole and Fetch were waiting. She grabbed a tree that was planted outside and it grew upwards, farther and farther until it reaches the roof, where Trish stepped off it, to the slack jawed Cole and Fetch. Cole was the first to snap out of it and ran up to her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked, examining her for injury. She pushed Cole away, gigging.

"Cole, I'm fine. I'm fine, really. Although I must say, you are cute when you're worried about me." Trish said, smiling. Cole blushed a little and looked down. "I can see why you like doing this, it's a rush, and it's fun to use my powers like that, but I still think I should be using it for good rather than fighting."

"Well, I should probably go check on D. I'll see you two in the morning." Fetch said with a smile as she neon ran towards her apartment. There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two before Cole finally spoke.

"Well, I should probably be heading home too, I'll probably be needing some rest after today." Cole told her.

"Alright, well I'll walk you home." Trish said, a wide smile evident on her face. As they walked to Cole's place, they made small talk and just enjoyed each other's company. Once they got there, both were more than a little bit sad to be leaving the other's company.

"Well, this is it. It's been a long day, so I should probably go in and get some rest." Cole said, turning to face her.

"Yeah, I've got quite a bit to do as well with the hospital and other stuff..." She replied. There was a long pause. "You know, I suppose those could wait till tomorrow." She said. Another long pause before Cole finally chimed back in.

"Do... Do you wanna come in, and, you know, have a cup of coffee?" Cole asked, clearly nervous, which was terribly unlike him. Trish gave a small smile.

"You don't drink coffee" She replied as she took his hand and walked up towards the building with him. Despite the fact that the weather had only been drizzling, the forecast had only predicted 2-3 inches of rain, but that night, there ended up being 8 inches instead.

~Alex's point of view~

I was woken up by Glass tapping on my shoulder for me to do the last watch of the night. My feet were aching and my whole body was a bit sore from sleeping on a rock. I walked up to the mouth of the cave and firmly planted myself on my rear at the entrance to our little hiding spot. For the next hour or so, I entertained myself by playing with my powers, watching the stars, and listening to the ocean. I sat there and watched as the sun just barely started to peek over the horizon before I woke us all up. We all quickly got up and made our way to the nearest highway. We waited for a moment for a car to come by, before hijacking it. It was easy enough, we just had Rubber stand out in e middle of the road. Even if the car didn't stop, he would have been fine. It was just a matter of time before a Ford Escape pulled up and we took it from the guy who owned it. I was in the drivers seat, Leather was riding shot gun, Glass, Fabric, and Rubber were all crowded in the back seat, and this car had a trunk that was connected to the rest of the car, so Wire was back there. From there, I drove us south, following the highway down to California and gradually down to my home town of Sonora. After driving through the main road, we turned off onto a dirt road and followed it for a little while before coming to a farm house surrounded by trees.

"Sand, what is this place?" Glass asked from the back. I turned around in my seat to face her.

"This is hopefully somebody we can trust" I told her.

"How do you know we can trust them?" Fabric asked.

"Augustine told me about how my friends have repeatedly come, begging her to let me out, and I never had a better friend than this one" I said, remembering the incident as clearly as if it were yesterday.

"So, what, you're trusting Augustine now? She's a psycho bitch, everyone knows that!" Rubber exclaimed.

"No, there was something... different about her that time. Something more human" I told them. "Just, trust me on this one, okay?" With that, I got out of the car and motioned for everyone to follow. Reluctantly, they did, making sure to stay alert. Slowly, we walked up to the door. I knocked once and everybody held their breath.

"Answer, answer, come on Rich, answer" I whispered to myself. After a few seconds, the door opened, and I came face to face with my best friend in the world, Richard Hess. We were both surprised by how the other had changed, and it took a minute to fully register what was happening. Suddenly, he tackled me to the ground in a huge hug.

"Alex! Alex, god it's good to see you! Wait, why are you here? Shouldn't you be in that Custard Cay place? And who are all these people? How'd you even get here?" He asked, rambling on as he does. Yep, classic Rich, about as ADD as it gets.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too buddy. Can we go inside and talk about this?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah, sure" Rich said as he pulled me off the ground. He led us into his living room and pulled up a few chairs for everyone to sit. As we started explaining the situation to him, he got up and began doing things around his kitchen. I kept talking, as I knew he was listening, but I started to get pretty curious of what he was doing in there. As I came close to being done explaining, he walked out of the kitchen with a stack of small plates, and a large plate covered with what looked like sandwiches. He put a small plate and a sandwich in front of each of us. I paused from my story and without looking at it, took a bite from the sandwich. It was the best thing I had ever tasted. Favors I hadn't tasted in a long time exploded into my mouth. After years of only prison food, to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which happened to be my favorite food, again was the best thing ever. I sat for a moment, reveling in the taste before I finished my story.

"Alright, so you've escaped from the prison, what now? It's not safe for you to stay here, the DUP will probably be down here soon to ask everyone here if we have any idea where you're going, which means you've got to skip town. But you'll be noticed anywhere in those prison suits, go back to my room and take whatever clothes will fit you. Leave the prison suits here, I'll bury 'em out in a field." He told us.

"Thank you so much Rich, you don't know how much this means to us." I said, standing up.

"Hey, it's no problem. Hell, it's what any good friend should do. Y'all should probably take a shower too, you need it." He told us. After instructing us to his room, the bathroom, and the closet, we all showered and went through the clothes he had and each of us took whatever we could fit into. Luckily, he also had a younger sister, so Glass could get clothes to fit her as well. Rich loaded the car up win food and supplies and gave us some money in case we needed it. After giving him a hug and a proper goodbye, I promised him I would pay him back some day. And then we drove off, leaving behind my best friend. We had the radio on, none of us really listening to it until we realized what it was saying.

"...Supreme Court battle of The Vancouver Pact versus Delsin Rowe is set to end in just five days, this time with a special guest appearance. Supreme Court justice O'Connel has requested that Cole MacGrath himself come with Delsin to the court room, and I must say, I'm as shocked as anyone to find out that such a legendary man is alive, but as we saw from the news footage yesterday in Seattle, he is clearly still alive and is fighting alongside Delsin Rowe. Undeniably, he's going to take a stance with Delsin to protect conduits from government and social scrutiny, but I think what everyone is hoping for most is just an explanation of how he is alive. Either way, we'll find out more about this in a few..."

After that, I stopped listening to the radio's ramblings, for an idea had popped into my head, a glorious idea, terrible, but we could make it work. I hit the brakes just as we were rolling up to the street again, hearing a slight squeak on the wheels. I turned in my seat to face everyone.

"Guys, we should go to Washington." I told them. For a moment, they all looked at me to see if I was joking or not. After they all decided I wasn't, they all deemed me crazy.

"Are you insane?! Go to the capital of the country that wants us dead? What are you even thinking?" Rubber yelled at me.

"Are you okay? Did you hit your head back there or something? Are you running a fever?" Glass asked, holding her hand up to my forehead.

"You're an idiot" Leather said, flicking me on the side of the head. Fabrics and Wire just sat in disbelief that I would suggest something like that.

"Wait, wait, guys, hear me out!" I exclaimed holding my hands up. Everyone else went silent. "Thank you. Look, my thinking here is, what if we scared the politicians in Washington so much that they forcibly pass laws to give us rights? We rough 'em up a bit and threaten them, it should work." I explained.

"Yeah, and make a lot of guys fear for their safety! Besides, somebody's already trying to give conduits rights, didn't you hear the radio?" Wire told me.

"Oh, wake up! They hate us, they've always hated us and they always will hate us! Their ain't no way that guy's gonna win his case, things are gonna stay the same way they always have unless we make a difference! The rich liars fearing for their safety? Who gives a shit, you want fearing for your safety, try being outlaws in your own country, being discriminated against even though you've done nothing wrong to deserve that!" I yelled. Everyone quieted down as they had no arguments against what I had said, because they knew arguing against me was lying to yourself.

"Look guys, I don't like this any more than you do, but there's no way this'll get solved democratically. If we don't step in and make a difference, things'll never change. Those folks in the prison will stay there forever, conduits will never get rights, and nothing we do will make a difference." I told them. Everyone was silent for a moment as tension hung in the air.

"L-lets put it up to a-a vote" Wire's shaky voice resounded through the car. "All in favor of his plan, raise your hand." To my surprise, everyone, even Rubber, raised their hands.

"Then it's decided then, off we go to Washington." I said as I pulled out onto the road. It was gonna be a long road trip.


	12. The race to Washington

Cole was resting in a light, peaceful slumber, his dreams pleasant in every way for the first time in years, however he began to stir as he felt a light, soft substance tickling his nose and dancing around his mouth and chin. Inhaling, he smelled a familiar sort of perfume, possibly a type of fresh pine scent, but he couldn't tell. As he began to wake up more fully, he realized there was a slight weight on his right side. Cole opened his eyes to see the top of a head of brown hair, as the previous day's events flooded back to him, along with the aches and pains that came with them. Cole tried to move Trish off him and get up, but he was still incredibly sore and fatigued after a long day of fighting and emotions. 'I guess my healing isn't working too well with my electricity drained. Oh well.' As the ache in his muscles and overall energy loss prevented him from getting up, Cole decided to savor the moment just a little longer and ignore the troubles of the world for now, after all, he had protected it enough to deserve a moment or two of peace and quiet, so he relaxed as best he could and tried to drift back off to sleep. But of course, as always, duty calls, literally, Cole was rudely thrust from his delusion of a peaceful and quiet nap as his phone rang. Unfortunately, Cole had left his phone in the kitchen of his four room apartment the night before, so Cole just tried to settle in and ignore it. To no avail, the phone rang again, and again. Cole figured if it was that important, he should probably answer it, but he wasn't getting out of the bed in his current (haha, it's a pun) condition, so how to answer his phone? That's when he remembered his new power. Reaching over to his night stand, Cole tapped his finger to the electrical outlet and transformed into electric energy traveling through the wires. Cole tried to absorb as much electricity as he could in the brief moment he was in there before he materialized through an outlet in his kitchen. His knees buckled as he reached out to grab the counter and missed, grabbing his phone instead, as he collapsed to the ground. Hearing a loud thud and a muffled grunt as the man she was sleeping with disappeared in an instant woke Trish right up. Startled, she immediately got up and quickly stumbled as best she could into the kitchen.

"Cole! Are you okay?" She asked, kneeling beside him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sore." He replied with a smile.

"Cole, your muscles are really tense all over. I'm gonna start working on them." She told him as she rubbed her hands together, getting ready to massage his muscles.

"Thanks, just lemme get this call first." Cole told her as he clicked the button to put his phone on speaker. "Hello?"

"Hey brother, you been near a t.v. today? They got your face plastered all over the news, along with some old guy. Saying he's from the court, I'm talking top of the line Washington kinda guy. Anyway, they're saying he's calling you out, telling you to come with Delsin to the, big court hearing happening tomorrow. I bet you could make one helluva mark in Delsin's favor there, don't... what's with the grunting?" Zeke asked.

"Sorry, I was so sore I couldn't walk when I woke up, so Trish is, agh, giving me a massage." I told him as she stretched out my leg muscles.

"Oh. OOOH. Well I, uh... sorry to bother you, I'll let you get back to it." Zeke said.

"No, Zeke, we're not..." Cole tried, but it was too late, Zeke had already hung up. "Great..."

"Let him think what he wants to Cole" Trish told him as she sat him up against the cabinets and began to dig her fingers into his shoulder. After a moment of silence, Trish finally spoke up.

"So, Washington, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm moving up in the world." Cole grinned at her.

"I guess you are..." Trish giggled.

"You coming with?" Cole asked.

"No... no, I think I'd do a lot more good here than I could ever do in court. Besides, I still have a lot of stuff to do before I can even think about doing something like that. Plus, you've gotta have someone here to watch over the city while you're gone." She reminded him.

"Heh, I guess you're right." Cole chuckled. After a minute or two more, Cole called Delsin and arranged to meet up at the airport outside the city, where a plane was waiting to take them to Washington.

"Well, you should be loose enough to walk around now, but I wouldn't recommend jumping off buildings and fighting bad guys until at least the afternoon." She jokingly told him. She gave him a kiss, said her farewells and walked out the door to do what she needed to do. Cole got up, still feeling pretty sore, but not too bad anymore. He showered, got dressed, and walked out the door, ready to get on with his day. He decided to take the train to the nearest point to the airport. As he walked to the station, he absorbed some electricity from an electrical box in an attempt to help his healing a bit, which it did. He climbed the stairs to the monorail station only to see it just beginning to pull out of the station. He quickly threw a lightning tether on top of the front car and jumped on. He rode for a few minutes until the train reached his stop, at which point he jumped off the train and straight into an electric box, materializing into electricity. He directed himself through the city and across the wires underneath the newly remade bridge. Popping up just a few blocks from the airport, Cole walked over to the proper terminal and went to the desk.

"Excuse me, I was supposed to be getting on a plane to Washington D.C. With a man named Delsin Rowe." The woman at the desk looked both excited and surprised.

"Oh my god, you must be Cole McGrath!" She said, standing up and holding out her hand. As he shook her hand, the woman seemed ecstatic.

"I just wanted to say, I'm so honored to meet you and I support what you're doing fully and I hope you win your case." The jittery woman said, as she began to lead him out a set of side doors and give him directions to where the plane was waiting. Walking up, Cole could see Delsin and Fetch waiting for him.

"Well, good morning sunshine." Cole said as he walked up to Delsin.

"Yeah, cause you look sooo much better." He replied.

"Ha, fair enough," he smiled, "so how long until we're ready to go?"

"Bout ten minutes." Zeke said, walking out of the leer jet.

"Zeke, what are you doing here? Don't you have a job at the DUP to do today?" Cole asked, confused.

"Ha! You think they'd even gimme the time of day after that little stunt I pulled with the helicopter yesterday?" Zeke laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... Well there goes our only source of information in the DUP." Cole sighed.

"Oh, come on now, you didn't think I'd do something like that unless I knew I could get away with it, did ya? Honestly, have a little more faith brother." Zeke said with a coy grin.

"Alright, then how do you expect to get any info now?" Cole asked.

"Well, with the help of our very own technical genius, I've got hacking devices set up all over their servers, plus a bunch of mini cams all over the place where they wouldn't look, all connected up to the computers in Eugene's hideout. Not to mention I have more than a few contacts within that are more than willing to help us take down the bastards." Zeke explained.

"Wow, I'm impressed." Cole responded.

"Yeah, well, ol' Zeke's gotta be good for something." He said, walking back into the plane. A few minutes later, Eugene in his angel form flew over the airport and landed next to us, transforming back into himself.

"Sorry I'm late, I got a little caught up making some extra Angels and Demons for when we're away." He said walking up to us.

"It's fine. Good thinking actually." Delsin said. Eugene wheeled his suitcase into the plane before Delsin asked.

"By the way, Cole, where's your suitcase?"

Oh, it's in the plane." Cole told him.

"What? How'd it get there?" Delsin asked, confused.

"It magically got there because the writer accidentally wrote himself into a situation he couldn't think a way out of because he's a fucking moron." Cole replied.

"Oh, okay." Delsin replied.

"Alright, plane's locked and loaded. Let's get this puppy to Washington." Zeke said, sticking his head out of the plane. We all boarded and the plane taxied it's way over to the runway. 'This is gonna be a long week' Cole thought to himself as the engines engaged and the plane lurched forward.

Meanwhile, in Nevada...

I was trapped. Trapped in an infinite desert. My powers didn't work, the sand remained motionless, no matter how much bloody murder I screamed to try and get it to move, no matter how I clawed at my skin to try and find that spark of power. And to make it worse, she was following me. With that perfect blonde hair she always had, with that certain walk she always had. But that face... it was distorted. That perfect smile she always wore when I was around no longer seemed comforting. Or maybe it was the blood. Pools and pools of blood that followed in her wake, and the knife she was carrying was covered in it. Singing that damn song we always assumed she would sing to our children one day. That song that just sounded menacing. Such a nice melody, such nice words, yet somehow she always twisted them to sound so terrifying, so dread filling.

"Monster...," She said giggling at me, "you're a monster, and eeeeveryone knows it." Her words resonated in me, filling me, becoming me.

"Honestly, who would ever want to be with _you_! You, who killed them..." Figures rose out of the sand, forming into the dicks I had killed that night.

"And they probably could have satisfied me far better than you ever could. Really, it's a shame... Oh, but don't be upset, the fun is only just beginning for you." She said, a devilish grin appearing on her face. She let out a seductive moan, as all the figures merged into one and dropped into the sand. Suddenly, the sand around me began to fall away and swirl, dragging me down into the earth. I tried to cry out, but sand filled my lungs. It was crushing me. It was a deafening silence, just an infinite echo in the infinite sand.

"Sand..." The sand around me shuddered at the touch of sound.

"Sand," It came again. The sand around me dissolved and fell away into the void. I fell for an eternity, before finally landing on a bed.

~Third person point of view~

A strong, calloused hand shook Alex's shoulder as he came flooding back into consciousness.

"Sand, wake up," Fabric said as Alex opened his eyes. Alex was sweating, but other than that he showed no signs of his nightmare. The rest of his compatriots, excluding Rubber, were having coffee and trying to wake up. Light had not yet begun to show in the sky, but from what he could tell it was nearly dawn. Alex sat up and recalled how far they had made it. Luckily, they had managed to make it all the way across the state of Nevada without incident, and in a timely manner. They had stopped at a motel near the eastern border of the state, in a little town named "West Wendover". Alex patted Fabric on the shoulder.

"Thanks for waking me up." Alex said. Stretching upwards, Alex swung his legs out of bed and stumbled over to get some coffee. Grabbing a paper cup, Alex poured the steaming hot liquid into the cheap paper and took a light, quick sip as Fabric began to wake up Rubber.

"Hey Leather," Alex said, tapping his friend on the shoulder, to which he received a grunt in response, "would you mind driving today?" Leather nodded, grunted, and took another sip of his coffee. Sitting down on his bed, Alex yawned and rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe the image of his dream off his eyelids. Unfortunately, all he did was wipe the sleep from his eyes, leaving the image still burned into his subconscious. Cleaning themselves up, the group prepared to leave. Glass ran down and returned the key to the front desk and the group was off, this time with Alex riding in the very back, Fabric riding shotgun, and Wire sitting next to Glass. They did what they could to occupy their minds. They listened to the radio and talked about trivial things mostly. Anything to keep the boredom away. Glass and Wire occasionally made out, Rubber mostly stared out the window, and Alex played with his powers a little bit. Tossing sand from hand to hand and watching it swirl around his hands, only to settle back into his skin never ceased to amaze and entertain him. He had gotten quite an incredible amount of it stored up on the beach a couple days ago, so he should have more than enough for quite a while. He absorbed the sand he was playing with and looked up, gazing out the back window as he heard his favorite song, "Dreamer" by Ozzy Osbourne, come on. Smiling at the irony of the lyrics and the situation he was in, he swayed slightly side to side along to the beat of the song.

"Dreaming my life away..." He murmured under his breath as the song filled him with a euphoric and nostalgic feeling. He almost felt tears come to his eyes as he was abruptly reminded how good listening to his favorite song after so long was. He quickly wiped his eyes and glanced behind him to make sure no one had seen him crying. Leather was focussed on driving and talking to Fabric, Fabric was talking with Leather with a smile, something Alex hadn't seen on him before. Glass and Wire had begun making out again, big surprise there. Rubber of course hadn't moved so much as an inch, still looking out the window. Alex went back to looking out the back window, relieved no one had seen him shed a few tears. Sitting there, he enjoyed his favorite song for a bit longer, and relished in the feeling it gave him until long after if had concluded, until the car had turned deathly quiet. Then Alex had a thought.

"Hey guys," Alex said, snapping his fingers to get everyone's attention, "if we're going to be pretty much free from now on, we shouldn't keep calling each other our powers, otherwise people are probably going to get pretty suspicious of us. Soooo, why don't we tell each other our names?" The car remained quiet enough to hear a pin drop, only the sound of tire on road provided any sort of background noise.

"Alright, fine, I'll go first. My name is Alex Sandal." Alex told them. Nobody moved or spoke or said a word for an uncomfortably long time. Finally the silence was broken in the most unexpected way.

"My name is Quincy Cobbler, although I prefer Will." Rubber said, ripping his gaze away from the window for the first time in hours and locking eyes with Alex.

"Nice to meet you, Will." Alex said, shaking his hand. Another momentary silence.

"I'm Jessie Tyler, but you can call me Jess." Glass spoke up.

"And I'm Sven McRoth" Wire said after her.

"Sven, Jess. Nice to meet you." Alex said shaking both their hands.

"I'm Raymond Cudotte." Fabric said, turning and reaching his hand back.

"Nice to meet you, Raymond." Alex said, taking his hand and shaking it. Then there was silence again. Tension hung in the air like moisture after a storm, it felt like a weight on Alex's shoulders. In all the time they had known each other, he and Leather had never shared a single detail of their lives, not even their names. Leather's eyes stayed glued to the road, yet he appeared lost in thought. Finally, after a few heart pounding moments, Leather sighed and hung his head, eyes closed.

"My name is Matt Archambault," he said, reaching his hand back to shake mine, "it's nice to meet you." I grinned and took his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you too, Matt."


End file.
